Mid-Summer Power Rankings from NBA.com

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

Still at it?

 

Jim E

SAC is widely dissed for “not having a plan”, which seems fair. But ORL has been more puzzling this summer. They trade near-All-Star SG Afflalo and get SG E Fournier. OK. But they then claim SG W Green from waivers, overpay washed up SG B Gordon, then give a guaranteed contract to second-rounder SG R Marble. Oh, and by the way their “star” player is… SG V Oladipo. ORL needs a lot but they don’t need 5 freshly-guaranteed SG… what is the plan?

 

 

Larry Coon

I think it’s unfair criticism of Sacramento to say that they don’t have a plan. They needed to unwind some of the decisions they inherited from the previous regime, and rebuild the roster both in terms of the style of basketball they want to play and in terms of having a roster they can be nimble with — focusing on either short-term assets that can contribute, or value contracts they can either build on or package in the right way. And the Stauskis draft pick was made in that mold — Pete D’Alessandro went with the best player available, concentrating on value, rather than drafting for need. Needs are ephemeral — it’s easy to adjust for needs later. It’s harder to create value when you don’t have any.

 

I haven’t agreed with every move (Carl Landry), but I see a plan there and I see them carrying it through. I also think there’s probably more to the decision to let Isaiah Thomas leave than meets the eye.

 

As for what Orlando is doing, they seem to be trying to do the same sort of thing, which can look awkward in the interim (the five SG’s you mentioned). There’s still time for their roster to shake out a little, and I think it will.

 

Read more at http://www.basketballinsiders.com/chat/nba-chat-with-larry-coon-72514/#rrgo3YzkGu4xLaxZ.99

 

I think it's hilarious that he goes on and on about Sacto, when all poor Jim wants is someone to tell him Orlando is horrible and making mistakes left and right. Unfortunately, no one says that, so the quest continues.

[Voodoo Man 99]

Help me out here guys. Junkie says that basketball is not the most popular sport in central Florida. I live in the Tampa Bay area. We have professional football, baseball, and hockey. It makes sense that basketball is not the most popular sport here, but if it isn't in Orlando, what is?

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Help me out here guys. Junkie says that basketball is not the most popular sport in central Florida. I live in the Tampa Bay area. We have professional football, baseball, and hockey. It makes sense that basketball is not the most popular sport here, but if it isn't in Orlando, what is?

 

College football

[Voodoo Man 99]

College football

I lived up north near Chicago area most of my life, and college football pales to professional sports there, probably because of generations of families that went to Bears, Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls games were a tradition. I've never been able to comprehend why watching amateur sports was more enjoyable, but I guess longevity must be the key. I only lived in Orlando from 1999 to 2005, but going to the Magic games was more entertaining for me than watching a college sport that only consisted of 12 games and was was over by January.

[Catman 380]

OMG, Ball Junkie you are a SAD CASE man.

 

The guy is literally rooting against this team for no reason, and is at the low point of asking low tier media guys for support.

 

Truly pathetic.

 

Nice to see the vast majority of us are actually Magic fans here.

[KandiKane 136]

Clearly he is fishing for something, anything... just a little bit of support... a tiny tiny tiny bit, so he can say stuff like: "when I asked Kevin Pelton he said we were terrible and are doomed... etc".

 

He is not an Orlando Magic fan, he is a troll.... and a pretty average one at that.

[Emory889 353]

He needs something new because he can only ride the two out of context Zach Lowe comments for so long.

[Franchero MVP 391]

LMAO this is great. Thanks 'Jim' for your hard-hitting questions.

[30Assists 342]

Everything is horrible

 

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

[Joseph_Kuhr 61]

I lived up north near Chicago area most of my life, and college football pales to professional sports there, probably because of generations of families that went to Bears, Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls games were a tradition. I've never been able to comprehend why watching amateur sports was more enjoyable, but I guess longevity must be the key. I only lived in Orlando from 1999 to 2005, but going to the Magic games was more entertaining for me than watching a college sport that only consisted of 12 games and was was over by January.

 

well, in orlando there's actually only the ucf knights. whom only got to the fiesta bowl recently. (congrats) the other bigger schools (fsu, uf, the u) are obviously not in orlando. so these people grew up loving these teams. so, moving here you obviously wouldn't get the draw to it. they are all very passionate fan bases and as these schools, at least since the 80's) have been somewhat relevant in the countries most popular sport or at least always in conversation they hold popularity. on the other hand the magic have hit tragedy on more than one occasion in 25 years. couple this with the fact that sometimes the individual is more polarizing than the team (mj, kobe, bron) and fans tend to grasp upon the most attractive. that's not always orlando given that many citizens originate from larger cities. this ended up being longer than I had planned but, hopefully it makes sense.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

well, in orlando there's actually only the ucf knights. whom only got to the fiesta bowl recently. (congrats) the other bigger schools (fsu, uf, the u) are obviously not in orlando. so these people grew up loving these teams. so, moving here you obviously wouldn't get the draw to it. they are all very passionate fan bases and as these schools, at least since the 80's) have been somewhat relevant in the countries most popular sport or at least always in conversation they hold popularity. on the other hand the magic have hit tragedy on more than one occasion in 25 years. couple this with the fact that sometimes the individual is more polarizing than the team (mj, kobe, bron) and fans tend to grasp upon the most attractive. that's not always orlando given that many citizens originate from larger cities. this ended up being longer than I had planned but, hopefully it makes sense.

 

People have the ability to drive to football games

[Joseph_Kuhr 61]

People have the ability to drive to football games

 

uhh... yes. You are right. I don't know what your driving at though. lol I thought I was explaining your point.